ANTHROPOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF THE 19TH SPECIAL OPERATIONS COURSE OF THE PARANÁ MILITARY POLICE

Abstract

The 19th Special Operations Course of the Paraná Military Police lasted 101 days and was organized into five phases with distinct physical and psychophysiological demands, allowing the observation of how changes in routine, training load, sleep, and food access may affect body composition throughout the process. This study aimed to describe the mean change in body fat percentage across the course phases based on serial anthropometric follow-up. Assessments were performed using anthropometry with the Guedes protocol and three skinfolds (triceps, abdominal, and suprailiac), measured on the right side in the morning, with two measurements per site, and calculations were processed in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. The course phases included an Administrative Week (7 days), a Rustic Phase (12 days), a Technical Phase (65 days), an Operations Phase (12 days), and a Survival Phase (5 days), while students were continuously evaluated in all stages and could be dismissed due to physical, technical, tactical, or behavior insufficiency. Results showed a mean increase of 0.32% body fat during the Administrative Week, a mean decrease of 4.81% during the Rustic Phase, a mean increase of 0.75% during the Technical Phase, a mean increase of 0.76% during the Operations Phase, and a mean decrease of 1.93% during the Survival Phase. It is concluded that the largest change occurred during the Rustic Phase, in which students lost a considerable amount of body fat in a short period, suggesting a strong influence of operational stress, high physical demands, and restricted recovery on energy balance during that stage.